She swings between acts with the greatest of ease

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, September 5, 2002

When your dad's name really is Tarzan, it seems only natural for you to become a trapeze artist, flying through the air with skill and strength.

Aerial artist Sylvia Zerbini is the ninth generation in a family that started performing in circuses as far back as 1725. Now that her 10-year-old daughter, Ambra, has a small part in the circus, it seems the 10th generation won't break the family cycle anytime soon.

Zerbini and dozens of other performers will be in Tacoma next weekend as the 132nd edition of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus hits the big top, well, actually, the big dome. The Greatest Show on Earth plays the Tacoma Dome Thursday through Sunday.

Zerbini is unique in the circus world as she performs not just one act, but combines two completely different acts. After performing solo on the trapeze, doing impossible flips and last-minute catches with her feet with no safety net, she drops to the floor to perform her Liberty Horse act, performing with eight unharnessed Arabian horses, guiding them using only gestures and voice commands.

"The thing that's so interesting to me with the trapeze work is how you seem to block everything out of your mind," Zerbini explains. "I'm in my own little world. I climb 30 feet in the air and when I get to my little trapeze bar, there's no one else there. You have to focus 100 percent."

Zerbini's parents are Tarzan and Jacqueline Zerbini, two of the most celebrated circus performers in the world. Tarzan is a retired exotic-animal trainer from Algiers, while her mother is a retired trapeze artist. Her father still owns a circus in Canada.

Zerbini made her performing debut at the age of 5 atop an elephant. By age 12, she was part of a six-person trapeze troupe. She went solo as an aerialist at 14, and performed her first Liberty Horse display at 19. In 1997, she had a command performance before Prince Rainier in Monte Carlo, and won the prestigious Prix de Monaco at the International Circus Festival.

Zerbini, 32, performs on the single trapeze and a pendulating perch called a lyra. She executes complex front and back planges (holding her body horizontal to the floor, which takes incredible arm strength), heel and ankle hangs, and free falls with split-second catches using her heels, from 30 feet up, without a net.

Her daughter has been traveling with her since she was 2 years old, and is making her circus debut this year on her pony. Ambra attends school in one of the circus cars with the other 30 or so children of the performers. The school has two teachers, for grades 1-8. The circus travels the country on the world's largest privately owned train -- 53 cars stretching one mile.

Zerbini says Ambra is getting a wonderful education on the road, visiting so many different cities around the country.

"There's no monotony," she says. "You get to see so much of our world. We're in a different city every week. We get two days off a week, so I get to take my child into the city, and see a lot of different things."

Other highlights of the show include clown David Larible, a seventh-generation circus performer who speaks five languages and plays seven musical instruments; Sara the Tiger Whisperer; Mei Ling, who performs a balancing act atop a motorcycle; T.M., The Gator Guy, who puts his head into the mouth of an alligator; and, of course, the Human Cannonball, Jon Weiss, traveling 0 to 65 mph in less than three seconds.

Ticket holders may attend the Animal Open House before the show, to see how the animals live, work and play. They also may attend the preshow Three Ring Adventure, to learn circus arts such as juggling and balancing.